Graduation Day, Shinobu!
by Damien Grey
Summary: It's just two weeks until Shinobu finally graduates from high-school, but she has to deal with the problems that come with it. Which might separate Shinobu and Taichi once and for all.


Disclaimer: I don't own Shinobu or Love Hina… Don't bother suing me, I don't have any money.

_                                                                   Intro:_

Haitani: Yo, it's Shinobu's high-school graduation day. As if that doesn't say it all, I hated graduation day!!!

Keitaro: I was actually looking forward to mine, getting away from my past and starting a new life in college.

Haitani: That's because you didn't have many friends to be separated from. Some of the people I was separated from in my graduation day were my friends for like eight years. To tell you the truth, I'm writing this because my friend, Ken, is leaving. And it's been almost a year since I've seen P-man, and the others

Keitaro: Eight years?!!! If you knew them that long I can understand why you hate gradation day so much. So, how long is this going to be?

Haitani: This is the first of a two or three chapter fic. I'll try to keep it short. I wouldn't survive this if it was any longer than three chapters.

Keitaro: You hated graduation day that much?

Haitani: I have to admit, I almost cried…

Keitaro: Mine were tears of joy! _Free from Haitani and Shirai ^_^_

Haitani: Your earlier years were pathetic… Anyway, this fic is dedicated to Ken, Reiko, Migs, the two Aarons, Jeremy, P-man, Carl and Carlos, my best friends for around eight years. On with the fic!

**                                                  Graduation day, Shinobu!**

            Shinobu sat at the seat near the window watching the cherry blossoms fall gently to the ground as a gentle wind blew. Her thoughts drifted to the event that was to happen in a few weeks. In a few weeks she would be graduating from high-school. _Sempai will be so proud I graduated at the top of my class! _Shinobu thought happily to herself

            "Miss Maehara!" A voice rang from somewhere far away

            _Maybe he'll be so happy, he'll bring all of us to Kanagawa Neverland again! _

            "Miss Maehara!" the voice rang again

            _Maybe I should bring Taichi along?_

            "Miss Maehara!!!" the voice rang again, harder this time. And she felt someone shake her gently

            She looked at who had interrupted her trail of thoughts and saw Taichi, "Shinobu, It's not good if you make the sensei angry on the last day of classes…" she told her quietly

            Shinobu finally realized she had been lost in space and right in front of them the sensei was fuming. "Now that we have the attention of Miss Maehara, I want to remind you all that the graduation ceremony will be at 9:00 AM two weeks from now. To those whose names were called, I want you to return tomorrow to see if you have passed the exams"

            A collective murmur arose from the class as the thought of graduation finally struck them. The bell rang and the students began leaving.

            "So, Taichi, are you trying for Toudai this spring?" Shinobu asked her, catching up with her outside

            "No, I don't think I can pass the exams…" Taichi replied sadly, avoiding Shinobu's eyes

            Shinobu was shocked, "C'mon Taichi even Urashima-sempai passed! If he could have done it you could too!" she exclaimed

            "Sorry, Shinobu, but I've already been accepted in a veterinarian college. I like working with animals." She replied, looking up

            Shinobu looked at her friend, she was definitely not the same girl she had known more than 6 years ago, she had grown to become a beautiful young woman, her figure had filled out quite well and she had her fair share of admirers. Finally Shinobu remembered her fondness for Tama and other animals. "I… understand…" Shinobu trailed off

            Taichi noticed the drop in Shinobu's mood and quickly said, "It's not like this is the end of our friendship, we can still get together sometimes…"

            "I know, but it won't be the same… we can't talk at the back of the class like we used to… we can't eat together at lunchtime… we can't…" she replied, suddenly on the verge of tears

            Suddenly, the rest of their close friends caught up with them and said, "C'mon Shinobu, Taichi, this is the last day of classes we have to go sing karaoke until we drop!!!"

            "But… but…" Shinobu and Taichi tried to reply but they were already being dragged out the school gates. _Oh well, since this **is** the last day, I might as well loosen up _Shinobu thought to herself, but something was bothering her... it was as if she knew she was going to do something but didn't know what it was

            She returned to Hinata-sou at around two in the morning, making sure that she wouldn't wake anybody up. But as she steeped inside, a pair of hands grabbed her by the collar. It was Kitsune, she was clutching her stomach, Shinobu noticed the others behind her were doing the same, "Shinobu, hurry and cook! Suu made her extra spicy curry and everything we ate earlier just melted away!!!"

            In a few minutes, dinner was already ready, "I hope you won't mind reheated beef yakiniku and miso" Shinobu told them apologetically as she arrived at the table. _At least I can finally remember what I forgot to do…Sigh, I'm so stupid…_

            _They _didn't seem to mind, in fact, in thirty seconds time they were all asking for seconds. 

            After three more servings, the curry had finally been conquered and they slowly went off to bed. Shinobu couldn't sleep, she lay there on her bed, eyes wide open, thinking about the future. After a few hours she got up and went to the Shinkan and stared at the sky. 

            She hugged her legs to her chest, "It's all so hard…" Shinobu told herself, "Taichi and me have been friends for as long as I've been in school… Meimi too…Why do we have to get separated…? Kami, give me strength…"

            She began to cry.

            The next day, Motoko found Shinobu's sleeping form in a fetal position when she went up the Shinkan to practice. She brought Shinobu to her room and covered her with a blanket. After all, she had to look her best since Keitaro was coming back today.

            He arrived a few hours before lunchtime, Shinobu was still asleep. "Welcome back, Keitaro!!!" everyone greeted him as he walked inside. 

            "Hey everyone! So, how have all of you been?" he replied happily as he put his bags down and kissed Naru on the cheek.

             "Hey manager, did you get me the sake?" Kitsune asked him as she took a long drag off her cigarette. He pulled out two long necked bottles of clear, cherry flavored sake from his bag and handed them to Kitsune. "Thanks"

            "Keitaro, Keitaro! Look at what I can do!" Suu and Sara told him as they danced around him.

            "I'm looking. I'm looking."

            Motoko bowed and asked, "Urashima, can you help me write a paper later?"

            "Of course, Motoko-chan!" Keitaro replied, returning the bow

            "Thanks for the watermelons, Kei-kun!" Mutsumi exclaimed as Keitaro handed the bag over to her.

            Then they heard somebody walking down the stairs, as the footsteps reached the bottom step, they saw Shinobu, her eyes were red and puffy from crying herself to sleep last night. She noticed Keitaro and began to panic, "Ah, sempai! I… um… well…" she tried to say

            Keitaro walked up to her, put a hand on her head and said, "Nice to see you again too, Shinobu-chan"

            "Sempai…" Shinobu trailed off as she blushed a crimson shade of red. _Gyaaah! My cheeks are burning! I can't control my face!!! _She thought quickly to herself, her mouth stuck in a wide smile that she hid behind her hands.

            Keitaro noticed that Shinobu was hiding her face in her hands and was shaking slightly, "Shinobu, are you alright?"

            Shinobu nodded and ran quickly up the stairs and the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut was heard. _She still likes him _everyone else other than Keitaro thought to themselves

            She slid down to the floor and tried to squeeze the smile from her face. She stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. She still needed to wash her face, her clothes were all wrinkly and her hair was a mess. "Might as well fix myself up first…" she told herself

            Downstairs, Keitaro declared that they were going to eat out for lunch, much to the relief of everyone who were reluctant to face Suu's fearsome red curry surprise again. After changing, Kitsune walked to Shinobu's room to tell her to get dressed.

            "Hey, Shinobu, wash your face, we're going to eat out today!" Kitsune yelled as she knocked on Shinobu's door. The door slid open and Kitsune fell to the floor in shock. "Shi… Shinobu?" She asked weakly, "We're just going to eat lunch, no need to dress like you're going out on a date!!!"

            Shinobu blushed and said, "Today is special, Urashima-sempai just came back from his expedition…"

            "Well you're right there, but still! You look too formal, at least take off those earrings!" Kitsune replied

            Shinobu sighed, took off her earrings and looked at them. "They are too much!" Shinobu exclaimed, "I must have picked up my diamond earrings while I was in that haze!"

            "Don't get too excited over Keitaro, he's already married. Remember that!" Kitsune told her

            "So you aren't interested in him anymore then?" Shinobu asked

            "Of course I am! But Naru's my best friend, I can't betray her just like that…" Kitsune replied

            "Hey, what's taking you girls so long?" Keitaro asked as he suddenly appeared beside Kitsune, making both Kitsune and Shinobu jump in surprise.

            "J… Just give us a minute…" Shinobu replied shakily

            Keitaro shrugged and said, "Alright"

            Lunch passed by without much incident, except for the fact that Haitani and Shirai were working at the restaurant they were eating in. Causing a few hours of chokeholds, kicks, spilled soup and eventually led to two guys flying into the wild blue yonder by the hands of Naru.

            The doors opened and Haitani and Shirai walked back in the restaurant. Haitani plopped down on the seat next to Naru and said, "Naru, you're losing your touch. I didn't reach my apartment that time!"

            "And why the hell did I get the most hits, he was the one that spilled the soup!" Shirai asked her angrily

            Naru looked around for a good excuse and replied, "Uh… It's… because… because you have weird taste!"

            "Dude, you _do_ have weird taste, just so you know…" Haitani added "Falling for Kanako after Haruka got married. Must be the reason why she's been vacationing in Okinawa for over a month now." 

            "I can't help it! She's got that _thing _that just drives a man wild!" Shirai replied

            "Pervert/ Weirdo!" Haitani and Naru told him before they looked away

            "The three of you seem to be getting along well today." Keitaro stated "Anything happen between you guys?"

            "Me and that Pervert/ Amazon?" Naru and Haitani replied in unison "You've got to be kidding!"

            "By the way, Keitaro, when are you two going to, you know…" Haitani asked as he made a gesture with his hands. 

            Keitaro scratched the back of his head and replied, "We've been doing it for months now…" he was cut off when Naru slapped back of his head.

            "You're not supposed to tell them that!!!" Naru whispered in Keitaro's ear

            "If it's a girl, can I be her uncle? I love children!" Shirai asked

            Naru and Keitaro sweatdropped and replied, "We'll think about it…"

            Haitani put his arm around Shinobu's shoulder and asked, "You've been quieter than usual today, anything wrong?"

            Shinobu looked up and replied, "What did you do when you and Urashima-sempai went your separate ways after high-school?"

            "Well… Keitaro graduated a year before I did. But for the first week, we saw each other everyday and hanged out. But when we met other people we didn't hang out that much, but it's not like we stopped being friends." Haitani replied, "Why do you ask?"

            Before Shinobu could reply, a bokken whacked Haitani's arm and Motoko said, "Kindly give Shinobu-chan personal space…"

            Haitani rubbed his aching arm and yelled, "You should tell me that before whacking my arm! I mean…" one glare from Motoko shut him up

            Her expression softened and she bowed, "It was my mistake, I am sorry…"

            Haitani sweatdropped and replied, "Uh, whatever…"

            Shinobu sighed and thought to herself_ That didn't help at all… That just made it seem worse… Will me, Taichi and Meimi stray from each other like sempai and Masayuki-san? _She looked out the window and tried to think of what to do, finding no answer she returned to the present and began celebrating with the others to clear her mind.

**                                                           Author's notes:**

            Haitani stood up and began to stretch, "It's almost morning, I might as well turn in" he told himself as he closed the unfinished story and unconsciously began to take off his clothes

            As he was beginning to get comfortable under the covers he heard the sound of shattering glass. He picked up his new sword and went to investigate. He saw the window was broken and glass shards were scattered everywhere then he realized he needed some slippers. He found then under the couch and when he turned around, he realized there was a person behind him. It was too dark to see who it was.

            His projected cool exterior cracked, he drew the sword and frantically began swinging it at the intruder. There was a ripping sound and he reached for the lights. 

            The intruder was Reiko, her top dangling near her waist. Wide-eyed and sweating profusely, Haitani dropped the sword and leaned against the wall, fearing Reiko's drunken rage.

            Her gaze drifted downward and she began to smile, "I'm happy to see you too. At ease, soldier, no need to salute me so stiffly. I only forgot my keys"

            He realized what she was looking at, and covered 'it' immediately, "Don't look at it, Pervert!!!" and he ran back to his room, leaving a giggling Reiko and the remnants of his pride

**                                                           The real notes:**

Um… could you help me out here a bit? I really don't know what genre this fic fits in. Could any of you like tell me? Anyway, is it okay? I don't usually write these kinds of fics and I'm not used to it. Sorry for the crappy title.

            Comments, suggestions, ideas are really appreciated. I get depressed when the review count is low…I'll mention your name… **just kidding!!!** I promised to myself I wouldn't beg for reviews even before I started three years ago no matter how low it would get! Asking is okay though… But just do me a favor and open my homepage so you'll show on the hit count, that's enough for me ^_^ I just want to know people read my stuff, thanks in advance

            Meimi is a character created by me, I figured that Shinobu's group needed an extrovert and Meimi was created for that role. I could have used Suu but she's a year older than Shinobu and was probably in Toudai by the then.

            So, I guess that's it. Later everyone, and death to all that oppose the eclipse colony!!! Hell yeah!


End file.
